叫好
jiào hǎo · HSK 7
to applaud
👏 叫 shout + 好 good = shout good! = to cheer, to applaud
Literally to call out good — what a crowd does when it shouts approval at a performance. 叫 is to shout or call; 好 is good. Together: yell good! to express applause.
叫 — mouth 口 + 丩 (phonetic)
叫 is a phono-semantic compound. The 口 (mouth) radical gives the meaning, since the word involves vocal action like shouting or calling. The right side 丩 supplies the sound, originally depicting twisted cords and used here purely as a phonetic marker.
好 — woman 女 + child 子
好 is an associative compound showing a woman 女 beside a child 子, depicting a mother with her baby. From this image of maternal affection it came to mean 'good, fine, pleasing.' The reading hǎo means 'good'; read hào it means 'to like.'